1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanning probe microscope, a probe of which can be automatically replaced, and more particularly, to a scanning probe microscope, a probe of which can be automatically replaced and the replacement probe can be attached to an exact position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) are microscopes having a resolution in the nano-scale range, and show surfaces of samples or electrical properties of the samples as images. Some examples of SPMs are atomic force microscopes (AFMs), magnetic force microscopes (MFMs), and scanning capacitance microscopes (SCMs).
In a conventional SPM, a tip of a probe moves while contacting a surface of a sample or moves while maintaining a predetermined distance from the surface of the sample in order to analyze the shape of the surface of the sample or the electrical properties of the sample. As described above, since the tip of the probe in the conventional SPM moves while contacting the surface of the sample or maintaining a constant distance from the surface of the sample, the probe or the tip of the probe can be damaged when the conventional SPM operates. Therefore, the probe of the conventional SPM is fabricated in order for the probe to be replaced.
However, in the conventional SPM, the tip of the probe must be manually replaced by a user, and thus, it is inconvenient to do so. Additionally, since the conventional SPM represents properties of the surface of the sample using the tip of a few micrometers or a few nanometers in size as images, the replacement probe must be attached onto an exact position. However, in the conventional SPM, the position of the tip of the probe is changed whenever the probe is replaced, and thus, the positions of optical systems related to the probe must be rearranged after replacing the probe.